Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 7
7
Accepted
Government drug strategy begins to address alcohol but lacks sufficient prevention focus
Conclusion
When we asked if government’s drug strategy adequately dealt with alcohol, Dame Carol told us that she thought it began to deal with it. She hoped that of the circa 50,000 new treatment places that came with her independent review, 20,000 would be for alcohol- dependent people.13 She went on to explain that it was neither enough on alcohol nor on drugs but that the aim was to demonstrate to HM Treasury that both alcohol and drug treatment services could be improved with the funding available. Sir Ian told us that alcohol treatment services had always been a priority but explained that Alcohol Health Alliance wanted an approach to tackling alcohol harm that included prevention as the most important part.14 Sir Ian told us of his career as a liver specialist that he had “spent years pulling drowning people out of the water without walking upstream to see why they were falling in”. He went on to say “if you want to make an impact, there is no doubt that you need to go upstream”. Dame Carol, Ms Taylor and Ms Wiseman also commented on the importance of prevention strategies.15
Government Response Summary
The government highlights its provision of additional funding through the drug strategy, which has enabled local authorities to increase alcohol treatment targets to 92,000 people in 2023-24 and over 100,000 in 2024-25.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
1.4 In addition, the government has provided additional funding for substance misuse services through its cross-government drug strategy. This supplemental funding has enabled local authorities to set a target of providing alcohol treatment to 92,000 people in 2023-24 – an increase of 8,000 on 2021-22. Local authorities have indicated that this will rise to over 100,000 people in 2024-25.